Update on the Marikana Massacre

In this update, Tiyani Lybon Mabasa, president of the Socialist Party of Azania (SOPA), provides an on-the-spot report from Marikana, South Africa, on the latest developments in the massacre of scores of striking mineworkers.

Mabasa’s report includes new information that belies the official government version of the massacre and provides first-hand accounts of why the mineworkers looked to the AMCU mineworkers’ union to champion demands that had been ignored by the NUM leadership. In addition, echoing the call raised days early in Marikana by former ANC youth leader Julius Malema, Mabasa underscores the need to rally around the call for the ANC government to remove the operating license from the Lonmin mine owners and to immediately nationalize the mines.